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<%-- Page Title--%> Dhaka Diary <%-- End Page Title--%>

<%-- Volume Number --%> Vol 1 Num 145 <%-- End Volume Number --%>

March 12, 2004

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Hurricane Lamps

Last night I saw a rickshaw with a hurricane lamp underneath it. This sight took me back many years to my childhood. In those days all the rickshaws in Dhaka had hurricane lamps underneath them, as most of the city streets were dark. As time passed, most of the streets got sodium lights, so the necessity of hurricane lamps gradually reduced. It is now almost non-existent. Maybe rickshaws in villages still use hurricane lamps, but I still can't help thinking about how fast Dhaka City is changing. Maybe after 15-20 years, the rickshaw itself will be non-existent.

Mohibul, Dhaka


Activities of Dhaka Board

Last month, I went to the Dhaka Board to cancel my brother's admission. He is currently a student in a college. He got a chance in Textile Engineering at Tangail and for his admission, he needed his original S.S.C. mark-sheet. Even though this mark-sheet was in his college, the authorities told me to go to the Dhaka board. I went there and told them my problem. They wanted to see the necessary papers before they could help me out. When I showed the papers, they told me that my documents were illegal. I was astounded. I told them that everything that I had presented them was legal, but they did not respond. They all started to throw weird glances at me. Finally, one of them came to me and said that he could solve all my problems if I gave him Tk.1000. I finally realised that I would not be able to get my work done unless I paid some bribe. When will any actions be taken against such occurrences?

Khokan Sarker, Dhaka


A Courageous Rickshaw puller

A few days ago, as I was returning home by bus, I was stuck at a traffic signal at Kakrail. When the signal turned green, all the vehicles started to move at a tremendous speed. We were near Notre Dame College gate when my bus hit a rickshaw as it was passing by. Luckily the poor rickshaw-puller and his passenger were not seriously injured. The blame should go to the bus driver, who was the main culprit in causing this accident but the helper of the bus began to accuse the poor rickshaw-puller and immediately started to hit him. The rickshaw-puller became angry and boldly protested. He too started to lunge back at the helper and his courage gave him the support of several other fellow rickshaw-pullers. At that point, the driver and the helper quickly fled the scene as they saw that a crowd had quickly gathered. If people can stick together, there can surely be justice when needed.

Rifat-Bin-Salam, Notre Dame College

 
         

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